His gesture provoked a protest. While the deputies were examining a text on Tuesday aimed at imposing a sentence of disqualification against the perpetrators of violence, the president of the LR group, Olivier Marleix, invited the majority to “try an introspection session” and began to list various convictions, accusations and investigations. about members of the government.
In particular, he cited the Keeper of the Seals, who will be tried by the Court of Justice of the Republic for “illegal taking of interest”. Picado, Eric Dupond-Moretti, gave two arms of honor, before “regretting” his gestures, which according to him “were not directed at deputy Marleix” but at the attack against “the presumption of innocence.”
Faced with the outcry caused by his reaction, Eric Dupond-Moretti apologized to the deputy and “the entire national representation.” But, can he be penalized for having made this gesture in the Hemicycle?
Sanctions for deputies, not for ministers
It is not the first time that an arm of honor has been practiced within the walls of the Palais-Bourbon. The green deputy Noël Mamère had been sanctioned in 2009 by the office of the National Assembly after having made this gesture in the direction of the elected members of the majority. He had then been subject to a recall and a deprivation, for a month, of a quarter of his parliamentary allowance.
Asked this Wednesday morning on Franceinfo about possible sanctions against Eric Dupond-Moretti, the president of the National Assembly, Yaël Braun-Pivet, recalled that “it is not in (his) power” to sanction him, “because he is not a deputy”.
Indeed, the disciplinary sanctions provided for in article 70 of the National Assembly regulations concern only the “members” of the Chamber, that is, the deputies, and not the ministers who intervene in the debates.
In particular, “demonstrations that disturb the order”, “personal interrogations”, “insults, provocations, threats” provoked by the deputies can be sanctioned.
A political sanction?
Therefore, the Keeper of the Seals cannot be subject to a sanction by the National Assembly. However, many political figures have called for his resignation.
This is the case of Marine Le Pen, head of the RN deputies, who considered that his performance “discredits him in the eminent functions that correspond to him”, calling “on the Prime Minister to assume her responsibilities”.
“In any other democracy, the prime minister would have demanded her resignation immediately,” said Olivier Faure, first secretary of the Socialist Party.
The environmentalist deputy Aurélien Taché also urged the Keeper of the Seals to “maintain a little dignity” and “to resign immediately”.
“We can move on”
But the Government has not yet mentioned a sanction and several of its members have come out in defense of the minister. “He is a complete person, Éric Dupond-Moretti,” said Gabriel Attal, Delegate Minister for Public Accounts, on BFMTV.
“He was personally attacked for the presumption of innocence by a deputy, in any case he lived it that way,” he explained, adding that “now that he has apologized,” “we can move on.”
Same elements of language by Olivier Véran, government spokesman, who also appealed to his colleague’s character to explain his actions. “You know him, he is a man of integrity, a man of honor who fights for the rights of the victims and who recognizes the freedom to defend himself and in particular the presumption of innocence,” he told RTL, also recalling that he “apologised twice times”.
As for the prime minister, she indicated during a telephone conversation with Eric Dupond-Moretti that her “behavior had no place in the Hemicyle,” AFP learned from Elisabeth Borne’s entourage.
Source: BFM TV
